THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST

PART 7:another testament of jesus christ

What is The Book of Mormon​ all about? Among other things, it verifies the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ. It is a second witness that affirms the truths of the Holy Bible while correcting its errors and restoring the lost portions.

Just as the Bible is the compilation of the writings of the prophets in the Old and New Testaments, so the Book of Mormon is a collection of the writings of God’s prophets in ancient America. The compiler was a prophet-historian named Mormon who lived from 333–385 A.D.

Brigham Young University’s Professor Hugh Nibley has made this observation about The Book of Mormon: “Just as the New Testament clarified the long misunderstood message of the Old, so the Book of Mormon is held to reiterate the messages of both Testaments in a way that restores their full meaning.”

One of the ancient writers of the book of Mormon puts it this way: “For behold, this (the Book of Mormon) is written for the intent that ye may believe that (the Bible); and if ye believe that, ye will believe this also.”

When The Book of Mormon was first printed, it was thoroughly denounced as an out-and-out hoax and Joseph Smith and his followers were hounded and persecuted as threats to society in several states from New York to Missouri.

Today, a much different assessment of the Prophet Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon is held by millions of people around the world. Most recently, the New York publisher Doubleday, a division of Random House, announced that it would publish the first commercial edition of The Book of Mormon. The news release said: "The Mormon faith has become one of the largest in America. We’re proud to be the first publisher to bring this vitally important work to bookstores across the country and to add it to our outstanding library of authorized religious texts."

One year prior to this event, Barnes and Noble’s Book Magazine had named The Book of Mormon as one of the “Twenty Books That Changed America” with the comment that the book “had launched the country's biggest homegrown religion” and that “Mormonism has over eleven million followers around the world—in the United States alone, its adherents outnumber Episcopalians or Presbyterians. The book provides the theological underpinnings for one of the world's most vibrant religions,” the publication said.

Another such recognition was announced in April of 2004. An official delegation from the state of Illinois, led by Lieutenant Governor Patrick Quinn, met with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. Quinn’s purpose was to apologize to the Church for previous wrongs committed against the Mormon people. "On behalf of the people of Illinois, I want to express our official regret for the events that occurred in the 1840s. Religious hate crimes perpetrated in the 19th century were wrong, just as they are today in the 21st century,” he said. “Religious persecution is against the principles upon which our country was founded."

(It was in Illinois that Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were murdered by a mob. Soon thereafter, the several thousand Mormons living in Illinois were driven from their homes in the middle of winter, resulting in considerable suffering, including death.)

The Book of Mormon is the sacred history of a branch of the house of Israel in ancient America

As literary, historical and archaeological scholars examine its pages today, many are verifying that The Book of Mormon is exactly what it claims to be—the sacred history of God’s dealings with a branch of Israel in ancient America.

There are several surprising features emerging from the academic research. For example: 1) distinctive wordprints, like fingerprints, that are used to determine the number of authors of a work show that, not just one, but a large number of writers participated in the creation of the work (Joseph Smith has been repeatedly accused of making it all up by himself), 2) some portions of the Book of Mormon contain the rare literary forms of Hebraic poetry and chiasmus, both rarely found except in ancient documents, 3) there are striking similarities between detailed descriptions of geographical features in the book and actual archaeological sites in America which are too numerous to be coincidental, 4) the descriptions of the techniques of ancient Middle Eastern warfare are surprisingly accurate 5) the description of the olive tree industry in Israel practiced around 600 B.C. is remarkably detailed.

These and other features found in the book were completely unknown to the American populace in 1829. On top of it all, Joseph Smith was an unschooled farmhand. How could he have known anything at all about these things, let alone the many intricate details that are now coming to light? The only answer is that the Book of Mormon is an ancient scripture that was unearthed and translated by Joseph Smith under God’s guidance and direction.

A reprinted copy of the first edition of the Book of Mormon with a few other language editions

The Book of Mormon, in full or in part, can be read today in more than 100 languages around the world and, along with the Holy Bible, is accepted as the word of God by members of the LDS Church around the world.

Those who have taken the time to read and ponder it, are somehow changed in body, mind and spirit. Life will never be the same for them. Former LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball once observed: “This dramatic story is one of the greatest ever played by man. It’s story has a vital message to all people… archaeologists may be excited as they read of ruins of ancient cities, highways, and buildings…journalists will find in this book crisis after crisis, presenting rich material for limitless climactic stories…and the student of economics will find in this unusual book the disintegration of nations through pride, soft living, and luxuries, terminating finally in hunger and fetters.

“The astronomer and geologist here may see signs in the heavens and new stars come into focus, three days without sun…nights without darkness…and a vapor of darkness so impenetrable that no glimmer, nor candles, nor torches, nor fire could give any light.

“Engineers will learn that centuries ago, men erected buildings, temples, and highways with cement. The psychologists may find studies in human behavior and the workings of the human mind and the rationalizing processes where men convince themselves that ‘good is bad, and that bad is good’. The educator will find treasures of literature and poetry.

Former LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball

“This comprehensive book should be studied by politicians, government leaders, kings, presidents, and premiers to see the rise and fall of empires, and the difference between statesmanship and demagoguery. Scientists will read of unusual instruments never patented or remade or duplicated, of elements which, without recharging, illuminate dark spaces indefinitely…military men may learn much in strategy, intrigue, in movements, in morale.

“But after all, it is not the book’s dramatic crises, its history, nor its narrative that are so important, but its power to transform men into Christlike beings worthy of exaltation. My dear friends, I give you The Book of Mormon.” (April 1963 General Conference talk)